cast out like a Dogge It is neither true nor hath it any resemblance of truth that they should deny him this last office of charitie which they haue not refused to bestow vpon their greatest enemies for it was neuer heard of that the Albingenses haue denied scpulture vnto any As touching the Earle of Foix Remond he was a Prince of whom the Historie giues this testimony that he was a Patron of Iustice clemency prudence valour magnanimitie patience and continency a good Warriour a good Husband a good Father a good House-keeper a good Iusticer worthy to haue his name honoured and his vertues remembred throughout all generations When this good Prince saw that he was to change the earth for heauen he defied death an assured constant carriage and tooke comfort in forsaking the world and the vanities thereof and calling his sonne Roger vnto him hee exhorted him to serue God to liue vertuously to gouerne his people like a Father vnder the obedience of his Lawes and so gaue vp the ghost His Wife the Lady Philippe of Moncade followed him shortly after not without suspition of poyson by some domesticall enemy of the Albingenses whose religion she professed with all deuotion A Princesse of a great and admirable prouidence faith constancy and loyaltie She vttered before her death many excellent sentences full of edification as well in the Castilian tongue as the French in contempt of death which she receiued with a maruellous grace fortifying her speeches with most Christian consolations to the great comfort and edification of all that were present and in this estate she changed her life All these deaths made a great alteration in the wars of the Albingenses both on the one side and the other CHAP. V. Almaric of Montfort restored to King Lewis the eight the conquered Countries of the Albingenses the siege of Auignon the King appointeth a Gouernor in Languedoc The warre continues against the Albingenses Toulouze is besieged a treatie of peace with the Earle Remond and the Toulouzains ALmaric of Montfort had not the fortune of his Father in the warres of the Albingenses For he had neither King Philip Auguste who permitted the leuie of the Pilgrims nor Pope Innocent the third to appoint them Moreouer there was neither Citie nor Village in France where there were not widowes and fatherlesse children by reason of the passed warres of the Albingenses And besides all this the Prelats were many times put into great feares by those cruell combats that were ordinarily made and many of them left behinde them their Miters and some Abbots their Crosses The speech of the expeditions of the Crosse was not so common This was the cause why Almaric did not long enioy his conquered Countries wherewith being much afflicted hee went into France Inuentory of Serres in the life of Lewis the eight and deliuered vp vnto Lewis the eight of that name King of France all the right that he had to the said Countries which the Pope the Councels of Vaur Montpelier and Lotran had granted vnto him and in recompence thereof King Lewis created him Constable of France 1224. in the yeare 1224. To put himselfe into possession King Lewis the eight came into Languedoc and comming to the gates of Auignon he was denied entrance because professing the Religion of the Albingenses they had beene excommunicated and giuen by the Pope to the first Conquerour for then Auignon was no chiefe Citie of the Earldome of Venessin as at this present but belonged to the King of Naples and Sicily The King being much moued with this deniall resolued to besiege it which continued for the space of eight moneths in the end whereof they yeelded themselues about Whitsontide 1225. in the yeare 1225. During this siege almost all the cities of Languedoc acknowledged the king of France by the mediation of Mr. Amelin Archbishop of Narbonne The King established for Gouernour in Languedoc Imbert de Beauieu and tooke his way to France but hee died by the way at Montpensier in September in the yeare 1226. The young Remond Earle of Toulouze was bound by promise to the king to goe to receiue his absolution of Pope Honorius and afterwards he should giue him peaceable possession of all his lands but the death of the king in the meane time happening he saw the Realme of France in the hands of king Lewis a childe and in his minority and the regency in the power and gouernment of his mother Hee thought that hauing to deale with an infant king and a woman regent he might recouer by force that which he had quit himselfe of by agreement He therefore resolued to take armes being encouraged thereunto by the succours of the Albingenses his subiects who were in great hope to maintaine their part in strength and vigor during the Non-age of the King of France but they were deceiued in their proiect For though Lewis the ninth were in his minoritie yet he was so happie as to haue a wise and a prudent mother if euer there were any For King Lewis the eighth before his death had appointed her the Tutrix or Gardianesse of his sonne and Regent of the Realme knowing very well her great capacity and sufficiency Besides Imbert de Beauieu maintained the authority of the king in Languedoc tooke armes and made opposition against the Earle Remond and the Albingenses The History of Languedoc fol. 31. The Queene sent him diuers troopes by the helpe whereof he recouered the Castle de Bonteque neare to Toulouze which was a great hinderance to Imbert and his portizans All the Albingenses that were found within the Castle were put to death and a certaine Deacon with others that would not abiure their Religion by the commandement of the said Imbert Amel the Popes Legat and the aduise of Guyon Bishop of Carcassonne they were burnt aliue 1227. in the yeare 1227. suffring death with admirable constancy The more the persecution increased the more the number of the Albingenses multiplied which Imber of Beauieu perceiuing he went to the Court to let them vnderstand that without succours he could no longer defend the countrey and the places newly annexed to the Crowne and patrimony of France against the Albingenses and the Earle Remond In the meane time whilest he was absent the Earle Remond tooke the Castle Sarrazin one of the strongest places that Imbert had in his keeping and holding the field did much hurt to his enemies 1228. Imbert came from France at the spring of the yeare one thousand two hundred twenty eight accompanied with a great Armie of the Crosse in which there was the Archbishop of Bourges the Archbishop of Aouch and of Burdeaux euery one with the Pilgrims of their iurisdiction The Earle Remond retired himselfe into ToulouZe where he was presently shut vp and all the country round about euen haruest and all spoiled and wasted Being brought to this extremitie Hist of Lang. fol. 33. the Abbot of
in the 4. to the Ephes There is one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and one Father of all And Saint Iohn 1. Epist 5.7 There are three that beare record in heauen the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one And in the Gospel by Saint Iohn it is said Chap. 17.11 That the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost are one when our Sauiour saith That they may be one as we are one Againe wee must beleeue that this holy Trinitie hath created all things visible and that he is Lord of all things celestiall terrestriall and infernall as it is said in Saint Iohn Chap. 1.3 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made And in the Reuelation it is said Chap 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receiue glory for thou hast created all things the heauens the earth and the sea and the fountaines of water And the Prophet Dauid saith And thou O Lord hast founded the earth in the beginning and the heauens are the workes of thy hands And againe The heauens are framed by the word of the Lord and all the powers thereof by the breath of his mouth All these and diuers other testimonies and reasons drawne from the Scriptures doe affirme that God created all things of nothing whatsoeuer they be Againe we must beleeue that God the Father hath sent his Sonne from heauen vnto earth and that for our sakes hee hath taken vpon him our flesh in the wombe of the Virgin Mary for our saluation as the Prophet Esay speaketh Chap. 7.14 Behold a Virgin shall conceiue and beare a Sonne and his name shall be Emanuell which is God with vs. And the Lord saith in the Gospel that this hath beene accomplished saying I am come from my Father into the world and againe I haue left the world and goe to my Father And againe Saint Iohn saith Chap. 1.14 The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst vs. And in the first Epistle of Iohn 5.20 Wee know that the Sonne of God is come and that hee hath taken our flesh vpon him for vs and is raised againe from death for vs and hath giuen vs vnderstanding that wee may know him that is true and wee are in him that is true euen in his Sonne Iesus Christ This is the true God and eternall life And in the fourth to the Galatians 4. When the fulnesse of time was come God sent foorth his Sonne made of a woman made vnder the Law to redeeme them that were vnder the Law who by the commandement of God the Father and his owne free will was lifted vp vpon the altar of the crosse and crucified and hath redeemed mankinde with his owne blood which hauing accomplished he arose from death the third day hauing dispersed in the world a light euerlasting like a new sunne that is the glory of the resurrection and heauenly inheritance which the same Sonne of God hath promised to giue to all those that in faith serue him For ascending vp vnto heauen the fortieth day after his resurrection and the tenth after his assention hee sent the holy Ghost from heauen to comfort his Apostles and to replenish his Church with the same Spirit We must beleeue that the same God hath chosen vnto himselfe a glorious Church without spot or wrinckle or such like thing as Saint Paul speaketh to the end it should be holy and vndefiled according to the commandement of the Almighty Be ye holy for I am holy And in the fift of Saint Matthew Be yee perfect as your heauenly Father is perfect for nothing that doth commit abomination shall enter into the Kingdome of God but onely they that are written in the Booke of life as it is sayd in the Reuelation We must beleeue the generall resurrection of which our Sauiour speaketh in the Gospell of Saint Iohn The houre shall come when all they that are in their graues shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that haue done euill to the resurrection of Iudgement And Saint Paul saith in the first to the Corinthians that all shall arise and all shall be changed And Iob saith Chap. 19.25 I know that my Redeemer liueth and that hee shall stand at the latter day vpon the earth and though after my skin wormes destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my selfe and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my reines be consumed within mee Wee must beleeue the generall Iudgement vpon all the children of Adam as the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament doe affirme As our Sauiour promiseth in the 25. of Matth. 31. When the Sonne of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall hee sit vpon the throne of his glory and before him shall bee gathered all nations and hee shall separate them one from another as a shepheard diuideth his sheepe from the goates and hee shall set the sheepe on his right hand and the goates on the left And Iude in his Epistle Vers 15. Behold the Lord commeth with ten thousand of his Saints to execute iudgement vpon all And the Prophet Esay saith The Lord commeth in iudgement with the Ancients of his people and with his yong men also These things are set downe in the Old and New Testament and especially the foure Euangelists and the Prophets witnesse it in many places CHAP. V. An Exposition of the Waldenses and Albingenses vpon the Lords Prayer Taken out of a Booke of the Waldenses intituled The treasure of faith SAint Augustine being requested by a spirituall Daughter of his to teach her to pray hath thus said and written That multitudes of words are not necessary in prayer But to pray much is to be feruent in prayer And therefore to be long in prayer is to present things necessary in superfluous words To pray much is to solicit that we pray for with a seemely decency and affection of heart which is better done by teares then by words because God who seeth the secrets of our heart is more moued with a deepe grone or sigh by plaints and teares that come from the heart then by a thousand words But many there are in these dayes that resemble the Pagans to whom Christ would not haue his Disciples to be like for they thinke and beleeue that they shall bee the rather heard for their many words in their prayers whereby it comes to passe that they loose much time vnder a pretence of prayer Iob saith besides experience makes it good that a man is neuer in the same estate in this life but hee is now disposed to doe one thing and presently to doe another And therefore there is no man that can keepe his minde his spirit bent and attentiue to prayer a whole day or a whole night together except God giue the especiall assistance of his grace And if a man hath
I loue more or lesse GOD or the thing God forbids mee to loue let him know that what a man loues least in a case of necessity is that which he is most willing to loose and that which he loues is that which he keepeth and preserueth As it is the manner of Merchants to doe if when they are in danger of drowning they willingly cast their Merchandize into the Sea to saue their liues they loue their liues better then their Merchandize So thinke thou with thy selfe that if vpon any occasion thou hadst rather loose thy temporall things or receiue any losse or hinderance in them as in thy Money thy Houses thy Cattell thy Wife thy Children yea thine owne body then commit any sinne by which thou must loose God then doubtlesse thou louest God more then all things aboue mentioned But contrarily if thou haddest rather sinne then loose these temporall things then certainly thou doest adore and serue these things more then God and thou art an Idolater And this doth our Sauiour affirme in the Gospell The rest touching this Commandement is before in the 1. Booke of the History of the Waldendes Chap. 4. saying If any man come vnto me and hateth not his Father and his Mother his Wife and Children his Brothers and Sisters yea and his owne soule hee cannot be my Disciple All such offend against this Commandement c. An Exposition of the 2. Commandement Tu ne te fer as image taillee c. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image c. THou shalt make thee no Image cut out of stone or wood or any other thing which may be cut into any figure or picture or in any other manner whatsoeuer that is in Heauen aboue as the Angels the Sunne the Moone the Starres nor in the Earth beneath as Men and other Creatures as the Aegyptians doe nor in the waters as the Fish For the Philistines serued Dagon which was an Idol which had a head like a Fish Nor vnder the Earth as the Diuels as they of Acheron who worshipped Beelzebub Thou shalt not worship them by doing them outward reuerence nor serue them with inward reuerence Neither shalt thou doe any worke that may tend to the honour and reuerence of them So hee manifestly forbiddeth to make any grauen Image of any thing to the end to serue and adore it And therefore it is wonderfull that there are some that frame vnto themselues Figures and Images and attribute vnto them by their ignorance and against the Commandement of God the honour and reuerence which belongeth to one onely God Obiect But there are some that say that Images are Lay-mens Bookes who not being able to reade in Bookes may see that vpon a wall which they cannot reade Answer To whom wee may answer that the Lord saith to his Disciples in the fift Chapter of Saint Matthew Ye are the salt of the Earth the light of the World For the life and conuersation of the Pastors ought to be the Booke of their Flockes And if a man should grant that they are Bookes yet they are false and ill written For if Lay-people shall take example by those Images and figures of the liues of Saints it is most certaine that it is impossible For the Virgin Mary was an example of humility pouerty and chastity and they adorne her Image rather with vestments of pride then humility So that the Lay-people doe not reade in their habits humility but pride and auarice if they conforme themselues to the said Bookes corrupted and ill written For the Priests and the people in these dayes are couetous proud and luxurious and therefore they cause their Images to be pictured like themselues And therefore saith Dauid Thou thinkest foolishly that I am like vnto thee Obiect But there are others that say We worship the visible Images in honour of the inuisible God Answer This is false For if wee will truly honour the Image of GOD by doing good vnto men we serue and honour the Image of GOD For the Image of GOD is in euery man but the resemblance or likenesse of God is not in all but onely in those where the thought is pure and the soule humble But if we will truly honour God wee giue place vnto the truth that is to say wee doe good vnto men that are made after the Image of God we doe honour vnto God when we giue meate to those that hunger drink to those that thirst cloath to those that are naked And therefore what honour doe wee giue vnto God when we serue him in a stock or a stone when we adore idle Figures without soules as if there were some diuinity in them and contemne man who is the true Image of God Saint Chrysostome vpon Mathew saith That the Image of God cannot be painted or pictured in gold but figured in man The Money of Caesar is gold but the money of God is man And therefore if the Iewes were commanded vnder the Law that they should destroy all the figures and Images and addict themselues to one onely God as it is written in the first Booke of the Kings But Samuel said to all the House of Israel If you turne vnto the Lord with all your heart and remoue from you all your strange Gods and keepe your heart vnto the Lord and serue him onely he will deliuer you from the hands of the Philistines Much lesse then ought Christians to depend vpon such signes and Images which the Iewes did not but they ought rather to lift vp their affections vnto Christ who sitteth at the right hand of God An Exposition of the 3. Commandement Tu ne prendras point le nom du Seigneur ton Dieu en vain c. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine c. IN this Commandement we are forbidden to sweare falsly vainely and by custome as it is written Leuit. 19. The man that is accustomed to sweare shall bee filled with iniquity and the plague shall not depart from his house An oath confesseth God to know the truth and it is to confirme a thing doubtfull for an oath is an act of Gods seruice and therefore they that sweare by the Elements doe sinne This is the reason why Christ Iesus forbiddeth vs to sweare by any thing neither by the heauen nor by the earth or any thing else but that our speech bee Yea yea and No no and whatsoeuer is otherwise is sinne And Saint Iames in the fift Chapter of his Epistle saith Aboue all things my brethren sweare not neither by heauen neither by the earth neither by any other oath lest ye fall into condemnation An Exposition of the 4. Commandement Souuienne toy du iour du repos c. Remember thou keepe holy the Sabbath day c. THey that will keepe and obserue the Sabbath of Christians that is to say Sanctifie the day of the Lord must be carefull of foure things The first is
not his heart setled vpon that which he speaketh he looseth his time because hee prayes in vaine and his soule is troubled and his minde wandring another way And therefore God hath appointed to his seruants other exercises vertuous spirituall and corporall wherein a man may ordinarily exercise himselfe sometimes in one sometimes in another either for themselues or their Neighbours hauing their hearts lifted vp vnto God with all their power in such sort that they may not bee idle And therefore that man that liues well according to the will of God and the Doctrine of his Saints prayeth alwayes For euery good worke is a good prayer vnto God And as for thou that readest know that all the prayers of the old and new Testament doe agree with this and that no prayer can be pleasing vnto God that hath not a reference some way or other vnto this And therefore euery Christian ought to apply himselfe to vnderstand and to learne this prayer which Christ himselfe hath taught with his owne mouth Now it is necessary that he that is heard of God be agreeable vnto him and know those benefits hee hath receiued from him For ingratitude is a winde that dryeth vp the Fountaine of the mercy and compassion of our God And therefore if thou wilt pray or aske any thing at Gods hand thinke with thy selfe before thou aske what and how great benefits thou hast receiued from him and if thou canst not call them all to minde yet at the least forget not to beg that grace that thou mayest be bold to call him Father And thinke and know in how diuers a manner he is thy Father for hee is the Father of all Creatures generally by creation for he hath created them all He is a Father by distribution for he hath ordained them and disposed them all in his due place as being very good By preseruation for he hath preserued all Creatures that they faile not in their kinde amongst which his Creatures thou art one And besides hee is the Father of mankind by redemption for hee hath bought him with the precious bloud of his Sonne the Lambe without spot By instruction for he hath taught him by his Prophets by his Sonne and by his Apostles and Doctors and that after a diuers manner the way to returne into Paradice from whence wee were driuen by the sinne of our first Father Adam By chastisement for he chastiseth and correcteth vs in this life diuers wayes to the end wee may returne vnto him and not be condemned eternally in another life Lo teo nom sia sanctifica Hallowed be thy Name THy Name amiable to Christians and fearefull to the Iewes to Paynims and to the wicked Of this name saith the Prophet O Lord thy Name is admirable and wonderfull O our Father which art in Heauen we humbly beseech thee that thy Name which is holy be sanctified in vs by purity of heart by the contempt of the flesh and the world and that by an assured perseuerance of thy loue wee may be holy as thy name is holy which we beare and by which wee are called Christians For which cause let it be and dwell alwayes in vs that wee may addict our selues to holinesse and righteousnesse Lo teo regne vegne Thy Kingdome come YOu must vnderstand that God the Father hath two Kingdomes the one of glory life eternall the other of grace the life Christian And these two Kingdomes are ioyned together in such manner that betwixt them there is no middle but the point of death But according to the order of diuine Iustice the Kingdome of grace is before the Kingdome of glory And therefore they that liue in the Kingdome of grace by which we are to passe if wee will enter the Kingdome of glory without doubt they shall raigne in the Kingdome of glory and no man can reigne there by any other meanes And therefore Christ our Lord saith vnto his Disciples Seeke first the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof that is the Kingdome of grace and vertue as Faith Hope Charity and the rest But forasmuch as you cannot performe this of your selues without the heauenly grace beg it at Gods hands saying O our Father which art in Heauen thy Kingdome come that is to say the loue of vertue and the hatred of the World La toa volunta sia faita enaimi es faita en cel fia faita en terra Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heauen A Man cannot affect desire or doe any better thing in this life then to endeuour with all his wit and vnderstanding and with all his heart to doe the will of God as the Angels doe it in Heauen Now to doe the will of God is to renounce himselfe that is to say his owne proper will and to dispose and employ that which is in his owne soule and heart or that is without him in things temporall according to the Law of God and the Doctrine of the Gospell of Christ Iesus And to be well content with whatsoeuer it shall please God to doe or permit both in aduersity and prosperity Many there are who thinke they are to be excused because they know not the will of God But these men deceiue themselues For the will of God is written and plainely manifested and proued by the word of God which they will not reade or vnderstand And therefore saith the Apostle Conforme not your selues vnto those that loue the World but be reformed and renewed in the truth of your vnderstanding to the end you may know what is the will of God And againe this is the will of God euen your sanctification There is no worke that is little if it be done with a willing and feruent affection And our Sauiour teacheth his Disciples both by words and examples that the will of God must be done not theirs saying I am come into the world not to doe my will but to doe the will of my Father who hath sent me Againe being neere his passion and seeing the torments of death which he was to endure as he was man he cryed out O my Father if it be possible let this Cup passe from me but yet not my will but thy will be done To be briefe we must thus pray in all our affaires O our Father which art in Heauen Thy will be done in vs by vs and of vs in Earth as it is done by the Angels in Heauen without idlenesse continually without fault vprightly without humane desire doing that which is good leading a vertuous and a pure life obeying our superiours and contemning this World Dona nos lo nostre pan quotidien enchoi Giue vs this day our daily bread WEe may heere vnderstand two kinds of bread Corporall and Spirituall By Corporall bread wee are to vnderstand our meates and drinkes and clothing and all things necessary for the body without which we cannot liue naturally The Spirituall Bread is the Word of God the Body
a great worke of God that how diligent soeuer the Popes with their Clergie haue bene vsing likewise the assistance of secular Princes and magistrates to roote them out yet they could neuer do it neither by proscriptions nor banishments nor excommunications nor publications of their Bulles nor Indulgences and Pardons to all those that shall make warre against them nor by any manner of torments fire flames gibets or other cruell effusion of bloud could they euer hinder the current of their doctrine but it hath spread it selfe almost into all the corners of the earth This hath le Sieur de Saint Aldegonde writ of the Waldenses But forasmuch as doubt may be made whether we haue in these dayes any proofes in the world of their beleefe it is necessary that we produce hereabouts an inuentorie of bookes which they haue left vnto vs to the end that when there shall be any question of their doctrine euery one may vnderstand what the writings are out of which we haue gathered that which they taught CHAP. VII That Peter Waldo and the Waldenses haue left bookes which make proofe of their beliefe and what they are In the former Chap. THat Waldo left something in writing vnto vs it appeares by that which Math. Illyricus saith that he hath certaine parchments of his which shew him to be a learned man Historie of the Estate of the Church p. 307. The Author of the Historie of the Estate of the Church giues this testimonie that followeth Waldo at the same time saith he made a collection in the vulgar tongue of sundry passages of the ancient Fathers to the end he might defend his opinions not onely by the authoritie of the holy Scripture but also by the testimonie of the Doctors against his aduersaries About fortie yeares since le Sieur de Vignaux Pastor of the Churches of the Waldenses in Piemont writ as followeth in his memorials that he made Of the beginning Antiquitie Doctrine Religion Manners Discipline Persecutions Confessions and progresse of the people called Waldenses I that write saith he can witnesse that being sent vnto these people to preach the Gospell of our Lord Iesus Christ which I did about some fortie yeares together I had no need to take much paines to win them from the ceremonies of the Church of Rome not to roote out of their minds the Pope the Masse Purgatory and such other things wherein they were a long time Doctors before my coming although the greatest part of them knew neither A nor B. It is to this seruant of God to whom we are much bound for the multitude of bookes written by the Waldenses For as oft as he lighted vpon any he gathered them together and kept them carefully which he did the more commodiously for that as he saith he conuersed with them almost for the space of fortie yeares which was about some fourescore yeares past For it was about the end of his dayes that he deliuered to some particular persons his said Memorials which he had gathered touching the Waldenses and all those ancient bookes which he had collected in their vallies touching the substance of which he thus speaketh We haue saith he certaine ancient bookes of the Waldenses tontaining Catechismes and Sermons Ibid. p. 3. which are manuscripts written in the vulgar tongue wherein there is nothing that makes for the Pope or poperie And it is wonderfull saith he that they saw so clearely in those times of darknes more grosse then that of Egypt Le Sieur de Saint Ferriol Pastor in the Church of Orange being carried with an holy curiositie gathered together many of the said bookes In his first table p. 153. which he shewed to le Sieur de S. Aldegonde who made mention of them in his first table wherein he saith that there are other manuscripts written in a very ancient letter in the Library of M. Ioseph de la Scale Now all the bookes hereunder mentioned being deliuered vnto me to furnish me with proofes for this Historie I will reduce into this Catalogue First we haue in our hands a new Testament in parchment in the Waldenses language very well written though with a very ancient letter Also there is a booke intituled the Antechrist which thus begins Qual cosa sia l'Antechrist en datte de l'an mille cent vingt In the same volume there are contained diuers Sermons of the Pastors of the Waldenses With a Treatise against sinne and the remedies to resist sinne Also a booke entituled The booke of Vertues In that volume there is another Treatise with this inscription De l'enseignament de li filli that is to say of the Instructions of children A Treatise of Mariage A Treatise entituled Li parlar de li Philosophes Doctors that is sentences of Philosophers and Doctors All which bookes are written in the language of the Waldenses which is partly Prouenciall and partly Piemontaine All of them sufficient to instruct their people to liue well and to beleeue well the doctrine of all which bookes being conformable to that which is taught and beleeued at this present in all the reformed Churches From hence we conclude that that doctrine that hath bene maintained in our times against humane inuentions is not new but to those that haue buried it wilfully or whose ancestors haue detested it out of their ignorance of the goodnesse thereof there being found diuers writings and that in great number which make good that for these foure hundred and fiftie yeares the doctrine of the reformed Churches is the selfesame which for many ages hath bene buried by ignorance and ingratitude Which our aduersaries themselues haue in some sort auouched when they say and confesse that that doctrine which they call new is but the substance of the errors of the ancient Waldenses as may appeare by their owne writings from whence we haue gathered that which remaineth in the Chapter following CHAP. VIII That the aduersaries of the Waldenses haue acknowledged that the doctrine of the Waldenses is conformable to that of those that at this present make profession of reformation LIndanus makes Caluin an inheritor or heire of the doctrine of the Waldenses Lindan in his analiticke tables The Cardinall Hosius saith Hosius in his fiâ—â—â— booke of the heresies of our times that the leprosie of the Waldenses hath infected all Bohemia at what time following the doctrine of Waldo the greatest part of the kingdome of Bohemia was separated from the Church of Rome Gwalt in his Chro. table sec 12. Chap. 15. pa. 494. Gwaltier Monke the Iesuite in his Chronographicall table or to speake otherwise in his mole-hill of lyes makes the Waldenses and those they call the poore abused and the Ministers of Caluin to be of one and the same beleefe in twentie seuen Articles Claud. Rubis in his historie of the Citie of Lions lib. 3. pa. 269. Syluius and Dubrauius in their Histories of Bohemia Tho. Wal. in his 6. volume of
Driuing them out of the field of the Lord taking from them their lands and liuings in which the Heretikes being banished let Catholike inhabitants be substituted in their roome The Pope writ to all Christian Princes to frame themselues for the obtaining of that pardon against the Albingenses that they obtained if they passed beyond the Seas against the Turkes and particularly the author of the Treasure of Histories saith That the Pope intreated King Philip and diuers Barons that they would vndertake with him that enterprise against the Heretikes and get their pardons And that the King answered that hee was to bee excused by reason of his warres with the Emperour Otho and King Iohn of England Of the Barons saith hee there were many that yeelded to the enterprise for their pardon The Earle Remond being aduertised what was plotted against him in Europe at the instance of the Pope sent vnto him humbly beseeching him not to condemne him before he had heard him speake assuring him that he was no way culpable of the death of Frier Peter de Casteauneuf and that it was sufficiently verified that the murderer was fled to Beaucaire hee complained of the malice of his enemies who had made false informations against him touching the said murder But all was in vaine for before his excuses came to Rome the troopes of the Croises that is those that beare the badge of the Crosse vpon their coat-armour were come to powre downe their vengeance vpon him and his lands that is to say the Duke of Burgundy Earle of Enneuers the Earle of St. Paul the Earle of Auxerre the Earle of Geneua the Earle of Poitiers the Earle of Forests and the Earle Simon of Montfort The Lord of Bar Ginchard of Beauieu and Ganchier of Ioigui As also the Ecclesiasticall persons who had leuied in their Diocese a number of Pilgrims and wandering people they were the Archbishop of Seus the Archbishop of Rouan the Bishop of Clermond the Bishop of Enneuers the Bishop of Lizieux the Bishop of Bayeux and the Bishop of Chartres with diuers others Pelerins euery Bishop with the Pilgrims of his iurisdiction to whom the Pope promised Paradice in Heauen but gaue them not one peny vpon earth onely hee did let them know that in such a warre there were more blowes than pardons This Leuy of Pilgrims or wandering persons 1209. was in the yeere 1209. There was now a necessitie either of opposing violence against violence or to come to submissions The latter was thought the more easie but yet dangerous For to yeeld himselfe to the discretion of his enemies was to bring himselfe into the danger of his owne ruine The Count Remond therefore came to Valence before the Popes Legat named Milo Being entred the toile he began to excuse himselfe saying That it seemed strange vnto him that so great a number of men should come in armes against him that vsed no other armes to defend himselfe than his owne innocencie that hee was much wronged by those that perswaded the people that hee was guiltie of the death of the Monke Frier Peter of Casteauneuf that before they had thus moued Heauen and Earth as it were they should haue enquired of the truth of the fact and nor condemne any before he were heard That he had there many witnesses of the death of the said Monke slaine at St. Giles by a certaine Gentleman whom the said Monke pursued who presently retired himselfe to his friends at Beaucaire That this murder was very displeasing vnto him and therefore he had done what lay in his power to apprehend him and to chastise him but that hee escaped his hands That had it beene true which they laid to his charge that hee had embrewed his hands in that bloud yet the ordinary courses of iustice were to be taken against him and not to haue wrecked their anger vpon his subiects that were innocent in this case And therefore saith he to the said Legat forasmuch as vpon an assured trust and confidence armed onely with the testimonie of a good Conscience I am come to yeeld my selfe vnto your hands what need is there any more of the imployment of these Pilgrims or wandering people against him whom they had in their owne power That it was promised him that when his honestie should bee knowne they that were in armes to fight against him would defend him And therefore he humbly intreated the said Legat to send a Countermand to his Souldiers before they approched any further into his lands and territories promising to iustifie himselfe of whatsoeuer was laid to his charge in such a manner that the Pope and the Church should rest contented That his owne person might serue for a sufficient pledge for the performance of these his promises The Legat answered that the Earle Remond had done well in presenting himselfe before him and informing him of his innocencie whereof he would aduertise his Holinesse and become an Intercessor for him but yet the businesse was of such an importance that he durst not rely onely vpon his owne knowledge much lesse send backe his Souldiers of the Crosse that had cost so much labour and lost the gathering together except hee would giue such assurances of his words as might take away from the Pope and the Church all shew or shadow that hee may hereafter deale falsely with them that put their trust in him And therefore hee should not thinke it a difficult matter to deliuer into his hands seuen of the best Castles he had in Prouence that is to say in the Count Venessin which was then annexed vnto Prouence which should serue for an Hostage The Earle Remond knew well the error he had committed by putting himselfe vnder the batches but it was too late to bee readuised because the counsels which the Legat gaue him were as commands Hee knew himselfe to be a prisoner and that hee must now receiue the Law of him into whose power he had vnwisely cast himselfe and therefore he made a shew of great willingnesse to obey to whatsoeuer was prescribed by the Legat acknowledging that both his person and his processions were at the seruice of his holy Father onely beseeching the Legat that his subiects might receiue no more damage by the Souldiers The Legat promised all the fauour that hee desired in this regard and presently sent to the Countie Venessin Master Theod Canon of Gennes The Monke of the Valley Seruay in his History of the Albin cap. 11. fol. 23. to put a Garison into the Castles and places of importance in the said Countie and to giue commandement to all the Consuls of the Cities thereof to make their repaire presently to the said Legat before whom being come they were giuen to vnderstand that the Earle Remond had deliuered vp his Castles to the guard and power of the Pope for proofe of his fidelitie to the Church whereof they were to be aduertised to the end likewise that they from thence
to cease from all earthly and worldly labours The second not to sinne The third not to be idle in regard of good workes The fourth to doe those things that are for the good and benefit of the soule Of the first it is said In sixe dayes shalt thou labour and doe all that thou hast to doe but the seuenth is the Sabboth of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt doe no manner of worke and in Exodus it is said Keepe my Sabbath for it is holy he that polluteth it shall die the death and in the Booke of Numbers we reade that one of the children of Israel being seene to gather stickes vpon the Sabbath day hee was brought vnto Moses who not knowing what course to take therein the Lord said vnto Moses This man shall die the death all the people shall stone him with stones and he shall die God would that his Sabbath should be kept with such reuerence that the children of Israel durst not to gather Manna therein when it was giuen them from heauen The second thing which we are to obserue is to preserue our selues from sinne as it is said in Exodus Remember to sanctifie the day of rest that is to obserue it by keeping thy selfe carefully from sinne And therefore saith Saint Augustine It is better to labour and to dig the earth vpon the Lords day then to bee drunke or to commit any other sinnes for sinne is a seruile worke by which a man serues the deuill Againe he saith that it is better to labour with profit then to range and roame abroad idly For the day of the Lord was not ordained to the end that a man should cease from worldly good workes and giue himselfe vnto sinne but to the end he should addict himselfe to spirituall labours which are better then the worldly and that hee repent himselfe of those sinnes he hath committed the whole Sabbath throughout for idlenesse is the Schoole-master of all euill Seneca saith It is a sepulchre of a liuing man The fourth thing is to doe that which may be good and profitable to the soule as to think on God deuoutly to pray vnto him dilligently to heare his Word and Commandements to giue thankes vnto God for all his benefits to instruct the ignorant to correct the erroneous and to preserue our selues from all sinne to the end that saying of Esay might bee accomplished Repent you of your sinnes and learne to doe good for rest is not good if it bee not accompanied with good workes An Exposition of the 5. Commandement These Commandements tell vs how we are to carry our selues towards our neighbours Non sentend tant solament de la reuerentia de fora c. Honour thy father and thy mother c. WEe are not to vnderstand these words as if the question were onely touching outward reuerence but also concerning matter of complement and things necessary for them and therefore wee are to doe that which is enioyned in this Commandement for that honour which is due vnto fathers and mothers for we receiue from them three excellent gifts that is to say our Being our Nourishment and our Instruction which we are neuer able fully to recompence The Wiseman saith Honour thy father and forget not the sorrowes of thy mother Remember that by them thou hast had thy being render then a recompence answerable to the price they haue giuen thee and therefore hauing regard to that naturall being which we haue receiued from our father and mother we are to serue them in all humility and reuerence after a threefold mannet First with all the power of our bodies wee are to support their bodies and to yeeld them the seruice of our hands As the wise man speaketh He that feares God will honour his Father and his Mother and will serue them as his Lords that haue begotten him Againe wee must serue our Fathers and Mothers with all our power neuer debating or questioning with them with hard and bitter speeches but wee must answer them humbly and hearken louingly to their reprehensions Prouerbs 1.8 My sonne heare the instruction of thy Father and forsake not the Law of thy Mother He that shall curse his Father and Mother his Lampe shall be put out in the middest of darkenesse We must likewise honor them by administring vnto them things necessary for this life For Fathers and Mothers haue nourished their Children with their owne flesh their proper substance and Children nourish their Parents with that which is without their flesh being impossible they should restore vnto them those benefits they haue receiued of them And touching the instruction wee haue receiued of our Parents wee must obey them in whatsoeuer shall tend to our saluation and to a good end Ephes 6. Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Of which obedience Christ hath giuen vs an example as it is in the second Chapter of Saint Luke And he went downe with them and was obedient to his Father and Mother And therefore honour first thy Father that hath created thee then thy Father that hath begotten thee and thy Mother that hath borne thee in her wombe and hath brought thee forth to the end thy dayes may be prolonged vpon the Earth and that perseuering in that which is good thou mayest passe out of this world to an euerlasting inheritance An Exposition vpon the 6. Commandement En aquest Commandament es dessen du specialment l'homicidi c. Thou shalt not kill MVrder is especially forbidden in this Commandement but more generally to hurt our Neighbour in any manner whatsoeuer as with words detractions iniuries or deeds as to strike our Neighbour Of the first sort it is said Mathew 5.22 Whosoeuer is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of iudgement And Saint Iames saith Chapter 1.20 The wrath of man worketh not the righteousnesse of God And Saint Paul Ephes 3. Let not the Sunne goe downe vpon your anger He that is angry with his brother without cause is worthy of iudgement but not hee that is angry vpon iust occasion For if a man should not be angry sometimes the doctrine were not profitable neither would the iudgement bee discerned nor sinne punished And therefore iust anger is the Mother of discipline and they that in such a case are not angry sinne for that patience that is without reason is the seed of vices it nourisheth negligence it suffereth not onely the bad to swerue but the good too For when the euill is corrected it vanisheth So that it is plaine that anger is sometimes good when it is for the loue of righteousnesse or when a man is angry with his owne sinnes or the sinnes of another man Thus was Christ angry with the Pharises The other sort of anger is wicked which proceedeth from a desire of reuenge which is forbidden Vengeance belongs vnto me saith the Lord and I will reuenge An Exposition vpon the 7. Commandement Loqual
Commandament defend tota non licita cubititia c. Thou shalt not commit adultery THis Commandement forbids all vnlawfull lust and pollution of the flesh as it is said in the fift by Saint Mathew He that looketh vpon a woman and lusteth after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart And in the fift of the Apostle to the Ephesians it is said This ye know that no whoremonger nor vncleane person nor couetous man shall inherite the Kingdome of God And in the 1 Corinthians 6.9 Be not deceiued neither fornicators nor vncleane persons shall inherite the Kingdome of Heauen And in the 5. Chapter If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or couetous c. Eate not with such a one Now as there is a corporall whoredome so there is a spirituall that is to say when a man separateth himselfe from God An Exposition of the 8. Commandement En aquest Commandament es deffendu totalment furt et fraud de cosas stragnas c. Thou shalt not steale IN this Commandement we are forbid all manner of theft and all vnlawfull meanes to get vnto our selues the goods of another by fraud or auarice or iniury or violence For they are not onely theeues that take the goods of another but they that command them that receiue theeues into their Houses and that buy stollen goods and make profit of them wittingly All they that doe such things and they that consent thereunto they shall suffer equall punishment or if thou finde any thing and restorest it not thou hast robbed thy Neighbour for thou art bound to make restitution of that thou hast found They that depriue their subiects of their goods and commodities as Lords vse to doe imposing vniust charges and taxations ouer-burthening the poore by their wicked inuentions and if they refuse to doe it they imprison them and many times torment them euen to the death and so take from them their goods vniustly they are theeues Of these the Prophet Esay speaketh Chapter 1.23 Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of Theeues and follow after rewards They are also Theeues that retaine the wages of the labourer by fraud Of such it is said in the 19 of Leuiticus The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night vntill the morning And as Saint Iames speaketh in his fift Chapter Ye that haue heaped treasure together for the last dayes Behold the hire of the Labourers which haue reaped downe your fields which is of you kept backe by fraud cryeth and the cries of them which haue reaped are entred into the eares of the Lord of Hosts They play the theeues that hurt the weale publike as Coyners in the weight number value and generally all such as falsifie their weights and measures and diuers Merchandizes these are called robbers of the common good and such according to the Law are to be put to death in boyling oyle They are Theeues that labour to get by fraud that deceiue men in their wares and merchandize selling bad for good Also Gamesters who inuite others to gaming who play out of auarice the roote of all euill rapine lying vaine and idle speeches oaths blasphemies against God ill example the losse of time Thus by playing a man winds himselfe vniustly into the goods of another man An Exposition on the 9. Commandement En aquest Commandement non es solament deffendu la messogna ma tota offensa c. Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy Neighbour IN this Commandement we are not onely forbidden to lye but all offences that may be done vnto our Neighbours by false or fained words or workes For all such as loue lying are the Children of the Diuell as also they that impeach the honour of their Neighbour by lying or beare false witnesse for the wicked Hee that beares false witnesse saith Saint Augustine wrongs these three First God whose presence is thereby contemned Secondly the Iudge who is deceiued by him that lieth And thirdly he wrongs the Innocent partie who is oppressed by his false witnesse All detractors sinne against this Commandement A detractor or slanderer is compared to an open sepulchre as Dauid speaketh Their mouth is an open sepulchre There is no graue so loathsome vnto God as the mouth of a slanderer And this was that that made S. Ambrose to say that a thiefe is more to be boren-with then a detractor for the one robbeth a man of his corporall substance onely the other of his good name The slanderer deserueth to be hated of God and man The stroke of the whip maketh markes in the flesh but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones An Exposition of the 10. Commandement En aquest Commandement es defendua la Cubititia de tui li ben c. Thou shalt not couet c. IN this Commandement is forbidden the couetous desire of all goods that is of wife seruants fields vineyards houses c. As also the concupiscence of the eyes and of the flesh The lust of the flesh is like a running water but the lust of the eyes is like earth by reason of our earthly affections And as of water and earth there is made a materiall dirt so of concupiscense is made the spirituall durt and dunghill of the soule which maketh a man odious vnto God From hence ariseth the pride of life which like a violent winde disquieteth the soule and turneth this earthly lumpe into dust The conclusion of the Exposition of the Commandements Aquesti son li dies Commandament de la Ley c. THese are the ten Commandements of the Law whereof the first concerne our duty to God the latter toward our neighbour And whosoeuer will be saued must keepe these Commandements Many excellent blessings are promised to those that keepe these Commandements and to those that transgresse them many grieuous and horrible maledictions As Deut. 28. If wee truely acknowledge our sinnes we know that we are farre from God For saluation is farre from sinners and the knowledge of sinne bringeth vs to repentance for no man can repent that knoweth not his sinne The first degree to saluation is the knowledge of sinne and therefore acknowledging our fault we approach with confidence to the throne of the grace of God and confesse our sinnes for hee is faithfull and iust to pardon our sinnes and to clense vs from all iniquitie and to bring vs to the life of grace Amen A briefe Exposition of the Waldenses and Albingenses of the Apostles Creed confirming the Articles thereof by expresse passages of the Scripture CHAP. IIII. Nos deuen creyre en Dio Paire tot Poissant c. WEe must beleeue in God the Father Almightie maker of heauen and earth which God is one Trinitie as it is written in the Law Deut. 6.4 Heare O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord. And the Prophet Esay I am Lord and there is none other neither is there any God but I And Saint Paul
Christ Iesus These are the things wherein the true Preacher of the Word ought faithfully to employ himselfe to conduct the party visited to his Sauiour And when he is departed this life he must giue heart and courage to the suruiuers by godly exhortations to the end they may be comforted to praise God and to conforme themselues to his holy will and whereas in former times it hath beene the manner to cause the poore and desolate widow to spend much siluer hauing lost her Husband vpon singers and ringers and eaters and drinkers whilest shee sits weeping and fasting wronging hereby her fatherlesse Children to the end that losse be not added to losse it is our duty taking pitty on them to aide them with our councell and with our goods according to that ability that God hath bestowed on vs taking care that the Children be well instructed to the end that liuing like Christians according to the will of God they may labour to get their liuing as God hath ordained and commanded CHAP. IX The Conclusion of this Booke BY that which is contained in this Booke and what hath beene faithfully gathered out of the Bookes the Waldenses haue left vnto vs it appeareth that the Doctrine which they maintaine in these dayes that make profession of reformation hath beene maintained by them many ages before they that are enemies thereunto would take notice of it there being nothing in all that is deliuered that doth either repugne the Word of God or is not altogether conformeable to that which is taught in the reformed Churches For the Waldenses and Albingenses haue knowne the necessity of instructing their children by making vse of such familiar Catechismes as haue beene practised in the Primatiue Church They haue confessed their sinnes to one onely God with termes of true humility proofes of great zeale and a holy confidence in the mercy of God by his Sonne and our Sauiour Christ Iesus They haue acknowledged the Law of God for the onely rule of their obedience and confessing themselues to bee farre distant from that perfection which ought to bee in vs to appeare vnblameable before the face of God from their imperfection they haue taken occasion to haue recourse to the only righteousnesse of the Sonne of God our Redeemer the Law being as a Looking-glasse to make them know their staines and blemishes and to send them to Christ Iesus the true lauor or washing poole They haue called vpon God in their necessities by and through one onely Iesus Christ our Sauiour They haue receiued the Sacraments with faith and repentance and without alteration They haue entred the state of Matrimony as ordained by God holy and honourable and finally they haue not beene ignorant with what charity they were to comfort and to visite and to exhort their sicke and such as are in any aduersity And what hath there beene in all these that for these they should be condemned to death as Heretikes especially seeing that with the goodnesse and puritie of their Doctrine they haue liued religiously vnder a holy Discipline which the Booke following will make good vnto vs. Luke 21.23 Heauen and earth shall passe away but my words shall not passe away THE SECOND BOOKE OF THE THIRD PART OF THE HISTORY of the Waldenses and Albingenses contayning the Discipline vnder which they liued CHAPTER I. De la Disciplina La Disciplina conten en si tota doctrina Moral segond l'enseignament de Christ c. Of Discipline DIscipline containeth in it all Morall Doctrine according to the Institution of Christ and his Apostles shewing after what manner euery one ought to liue in his vocation by faith and to walke worthily in true holinesse and righteousnes There are many instructions in the Booke of God touching this Discipline shewing not only how euery man ought to liue in his owne particular estate of what age or condition soeuer he be but also what must bee that vnion consent and band of loue in the communication of the faithfull And therefore if any man desire the knowledge of these things let him reade what the Apostle hath said in his Epistles and he shall finde at large and especially in what manner euery one is bound to keepe himselfe in vnity and to walke in such sort that hee be not a scandall and an occasion of falling to his neighbour by wicked words or actions and in what manner he is bound not only to flye what is euill but also the occasions of euill and whensoeuer any man hath failed therein how he may be reformed and come to amendment of life By many such generall instructions the reclaimed people newly brought vnto the Faith must be taught to the end they may walke worthily in the house of the Lord that they make not his house a den of theeues by their wicked conuersation and toleration of euill CHAP. II. De li Pastor Tuit aquilli liquol deuon esser receopu Pastor dentre de nos c. Of Pastors ALL they that are to bee receiued as Pastors amongst vs whilest they are yet with their owne people they are to intreate ours that they would bee pleased to receiue them to the Ministery and to pray vnto God that they may bee made worthy of so great an office but yet know that these Petitioners make this request to shew their humility We set them their taske causing them to learne by heart all the Chapters of Saint Mathew and Saint Iohn and all the Epistles that are Canonicall a good part of the writings of Salomon Dauid and the Prophets Afterwards hauing gotten some good testimony of their sufficiency they are receiued with imposition of hands into the Office of Teachers He that is admitted in the last place shall not doe any thing without the leaue and allowance of him that was admitted before him As also hee that is first shall doe nothing without the leaue of his companion to the end that all things with vs might be done in order Diet and apparell is giuen vnto vs freely and by way of almes and that with good sufficiency by those good people whom we teach Amongst other powers and abilities which God hath giuen to his seruants hee hath giuen authority to chuse Leaders to rule the people and to ordaine Elders in their charges according to the diuersity of the worke in the vnity of Christ which is proued by the saying of the Apostle in the first Chapter of the Epistle to Titus For this cause haue I left thee in Creete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordaine Elders in euery City as I haue appointed thee Whensoeuer any of our said Pastors committeth any foule sinne hee is thrust out of our company and forbid to preach CHAP. III. Del ' Enseignament de li filli Li filli liqual naisson a li pairons carnals deuon esser rondu c. Of the Instruction of Children CHildren borne of their carnall Parents must bee made spirituall vnto
nor wrinckle nor any such thing but that it should bee holy and vndefiled And this testimony of washing the Spouse of Christ in his Blood is not onely currant heere vpon earth but in heauen too by those that haue obtained the actuall washing of whom it is said in the Reuelation Chap. 7. These are they which came out of great tribulation and haue washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lambe Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serue him day and night Thus you see how many purgings may be gathered out of the Scriptures to prooue that they that trauell in this life are heere purged of their sinnes In the third place we thinke it a great deale the surer way that euery man doe so liue in this present world that hee may haue no need afterwards of any purgation For it is a great deale better to doe good in this present life then afterwards to hope for an vncertaine helpe And it is a surer course that what good a man hopes shall be done vnto him by others after his death he doe it himselfe whilst he liueth being a more happy thing to depart a free-man then to seeke his liberty after he is bound Moreouer besides that which hath beene hitherto spoken we say that there is no place in Scripture to be found nor amongst the Doctours grounded vpon the Scriptures that doth make good vnto vs that the faithfull are any way bound by any necessity to beleeue or publikely to confesse as an Article of their faith that there is any such place as Purgatory after this life wherein after the ascension of Christ into Heauen the soules especially of those that shall be saued not hauing satisfied in this life for their sinnes endure sensible paines when they are departed of their bodies and thereby are purged of which soules some depart out of Purgatory sooner some later then others and some a little before others at the day of Iudgement And first as touching the Scriptures no man can prooue it by them For it is manifest that if a man shall reade the whole Law he shall neuer finde therein any one place of Scripture that bindeth a Christian necessarily to beleeue as an Article of his faith that there is after this life any place called Purgatory as some doe affirme And there is no place in the whole Volume of the Booke of God which doth so much as name it neither was there euer any soule found that hath entred the same Purgatory and came out againe There is no man bound therefore to beleeue it or to hold it to be an Article of our faith For confirmation heereof Saint Augustine in his Booke intituled A thousand words writes thus We beleeue according to the Catholike faith and diuine authority that the Kingdome of heauen is the first place wherein Baptisme is receiued The second is that wherein such as are excommunicates and strangers to the Faith of Christ endure euerlasting torments As for a third place we are altogether ignorant of any neither doe wee finde it in the Scriptures The same Saint Augustine in the same place vpon these words They shall not inherite the kingdome of God writeth thus O my brethren let no man deceiue himselfe for there are onely two places and a third is not to be found For hee that deserueth not to reigne with Christ shall without all doubt perish with the deuill And to this purpose Saint Chrysostome writing vpon those words in the 12. by Saint Matthew The Kingdome of heauen is like vnto a man that is an housholder saith thus The man that is the father of the family is Christ vnto whom heauen and earth are as a house but his families are celestiall and terrestriall for whom he buildeth a house with three Chambers that is hell heauen and earth The Combatants are they that dwell vpon the earth the vanquished in hell and the Conquerours in heauen Let vs saith hee that are in the middle roome take heed wee descend not to those that are in hell but rather mount vpward to those that are in heauen By these authorities you may plainely see that there are onely two certaine places after the ascension of Christ into heauen into which the soules departed out of their bodies doe goe and that there is no third place neither can it be found in the Scriptures And therefore forasmuch as in the whole Law of God there is no expresse mention of any such place as Purgatory is and the Apostles haue giuen vs no instructions touching the same and the Primatiue Church gouerned by the Apostles according to the Gospell haue left vs no Ordinances or Commandements but that Pope Pelagius fiue hundred fiftie eight yeeres after Christ did ordayne as wee may reade that the dead should bee remembred in the Masse it followeth that since there is no expresse proofe thereof in the Law of God there is no necessity to beleeue the sayd Purgatory as an Article of our faith or that there is any such place after this life But heere is matter of doubt because men in these dayes are strangely affected to the helpe and ayde of the dead notwithstanding that in all the Scripture there be nothing expresly taught except in the Booke of Macchabees which is no part of the Old Testament nor Canonicall And that neither Christ nor the Prophets nor the Apostles nor the Saints neere their time haue euer taught to pray for the dead but haue rather carefully taught that the people that liue vnblameably shall bee Saints And therefore answering to the doubt aboue-mentioned wee say that the principall cause of this doting affection proceedeth from the deceit and trumperies and auarice of the Priests who haue not taught the people as the Prophets of Christ nor as his Apostles to liue well but to offer much and to place their hope of deliuerance and happinesse in Purgatory CHAP. III. Of the Inuocation of Saints WEe are now to speake of prayer vnto Saints which certaine great Masters with their followers preach vnto the people extolling and publishing it with great diligence as an Article of their Faith affirming that the Saints that are in their celestiall Countrey are to be prayed vnto by vs in the selfe same manner as the Priests were accustomed to doe and other of the people by their instruction enioyning them many other things as helpes to their Inuocation By which Inuocation authorization and magnification the people carnally erroneously beleeue it Imagining that as it is the manner and practice before earthly Kings when they are angry that such as are not in choller should intercede for them and pacifie their anger so the people thinke it is so with God that is that the Saints doe appease the wrath of God when he is angry with sinners But wee are not to beleeue any such thing for if it were so there could be no true conformity betweene the will of the Saints and the
had begun to inhabit in Lombardie and within his Realme of Sicile where he commanded they should be persecuted with all rigour to the end they might be driuen out from thence and the whole world together Roger King of Sicile made also constitutions against them and caused them to be persecuted Pope Gregory the 9. did grieuously persecute them Sigonius de regno Italico li. 17. A Legat of his banished them out of all Italy Citties and Counties and gaue command that their houses should be razed He appointed in the Citty of Milan two Preachers who by the authority of the Arch-bishop made a strict enquiry of the Waldenses and where they could apprehend any they caused them to be brought by the Pretor to the place where the Arch-bishop had appointed and that at the publike charge Pope Honorius caused them to be grieuously persecuted vnder the name of Fraticelli that is to say shifting companions for some doe hold that as many as were so called in Italy were no other but Waldenses In the time of Boniface 8 they were charged with the same calumnies as the Waldenses of Dauphine and the Christians of the primitiue Church The Monkes Inquisitors haue alwaies made in Italy an exact search that they might deliuer them to the secular power and not being content to condemne the liuing they framed indictments against the dead dis-interred their bodies burnt their bones and confiscated their goods Paul Aemil. in Charles the faire Paulus Aemilius speakes thus of these shifting fellowes In the time of Charles le Bel saith he there were many great spirits and men very learned That age flourished in learning and some there were that were truely holy others who endeauouring vnseasonably and without measure to out-strip others became wicked others whose manners and institutions were doubtfull as for the best and holiest the wicked of those times bare them a grudge afflicting them not speaking a word or telling them wherefore And as for those whom they called Fraterculos Shifters the Preachers condemned them both by word and writing I vnderstand the words but not the sence cest escarlotte ces biens ceste domination and taught that they agreed not with the Religion of Christ They were said to be of the same beliefe with the Waldenses because such was their doctrine One amongst the rest named Herman being buried at Ferrara See the Sea of histories in the yeer 1300. was condemned twenty yeeres after his death to bee dis-interred and his bones to be burnt notwithstanding that whilest hee liued hee were accounted a holy man Also there was another named Andrew and his wife Guillaume that were dis-interred and their bones burnt CHAP. XVII That some of the Waldenses did flie into Dalmatia Croatia Sclauonia Constantinople Grecia Philadelphia Digonicia Liuonia Sarmatia Bulgaria and were there persecuted THe Monke Rainerius in his booke of the forme of proceeding against the Heretickes Rain de forma haereticādi fol. 10. in that Catalogue that he made of the Churches of the Waldenses or poore people of Lion 1250. notes that there were in his time that is to say in the yeere 1250 Churches in Constantinople Philadelphia Sclauonia Bulgaria and Digonicia Vignier saith that after the persecution of Picardie Vignier in his 3 part of his historiall Bib. pa. 130. Math. Paris in the life of Hen. 6 king of England were dispersed abroad in Liuonia and Sarmatia Math. Paris saith that long since they were gone as far as Croatia and Dalmatia and that they had there taken such footing that they had won vnto them diuers Bishops He saith moreouer that there was one Barthelmew who came from Carcassonne vnto whom they all yeelded obedience And that he stiled himselfe in his Letters Barthelmew the seruant of the seruants of the holy faith and that he created Bishops and ordained Churches Here may be some imposture in that he attributeth to his owne person that which is attributeth to the Pope that is that he called himselfe the seruant of the seruants and yet neuerthelesse had taken vpon him a kind of Soueraingty contrary to the order enioyned by the Sonne of God and followed and practised by his Apostles Albert. de Cap. lib. de origine Waldensium p. 1. As also in that Albertus de Capitaneis saith that the Waldenses had their great Master in the Citty of Aquillia in the Realme of Naples vpon whom they absolutely depended For there is not one word in all their writings that aimes at that end Only we alleage the saying of this Historiographer to proue the extent of those places where the Waldenses exiled themselues to auoid the persecution Antonin part 3 Tit. 2. Antonin relateth that the Waldenses called in Italy Fratecelli were in his time burnt in diuers parts of the world insomuch that many of them forsaking Italy retired themselues into Greece especially one amongst them of principall note named Lewis de Baniere and that two Monkes or grey Friers were burnt for adhearing vnto them that is to say Iohn Chastillon and Francis de Hereatura CHAP. XVIII Of the Waldenses inhabiting in Spaine and that they were there persecuted IN the time of the warres against the Earle Remond of Toulouze and the Earle de Foix and comming when the Waldenses were persecuted by the Popes Legates many of them went into Catalogne Math. Paris in the raigne of Henry 3. and the Realm of Aragon This is that which Math. Paris sets down saying that the time of Pope Gregory the 9 there were a great number of Waldenses in Spaine 1214. about the yeer 1214 in the time of Alexander the fourth who complained in one of his Bulles that they had bin suffered to take such footing that they should haue so much leasure as to multiply as they had done For in the time of Gregory the 9. they so far forth increased in number and credit that they ordained Bishops ouer their flockes to preach their doctrine which the order Bishops taking notice off there followed a grieuous persecution CHAP. XIX The Conclusion of the History of the Waldenses BY that which is contained in this first and second Booke it appeareth that the Christians called Waldenses haue opposed themselues against the abuses of the Church of Rome and for these foure hundred and fifty yeeres and vpward they haue been persecuted not by the sword of the word of God but by all kind of violence and cruelties besides many calumnies and false accusations Which inforced them to disperse themselues here and there where they could haue any abiding wandring through desert places and yet neuertheles the Lord hath in such sort preserued the remainder of them that notwithstanding the rage of Satan they haue continued inuincible against Anti-christ to whom they haue offered a spirituall combat destroying him by the blast of the spirit of God Crying with a loud voice not onely throughout all Europe but in many other parts of the earth
that it was time to depart out of Babylon lest wee participate of her plagues This is the people that haue enforced themselues to re-establish the true and pure seruice of God by the power of his word a contemptible people euen as the filth of the world by whom neuerthelesse the eternall God hath wrought wonderfull things restoring and re-establishing by them his Church First in France afterwards as it were from a new Sion causing the riuers of his holy Law and pure doctrine to distill and drop downe vpon the rest of the world gathering together his elect by the preaching of his holy Gospell And that which is most admirable in this so great a worke is that the doctrine which they haue beleeued and preached hath been likewise miraculously preserued amongst them in the middle of all their grieuous and continuall persecutions which they haue suffered for righteousnesse sake As it is also worthy admiration that their aduersaries haue kept a register of the euils which they haue caused them vniustly to suffer It hath been their glory that they haue shed that blood that crieth for vengeance exiled the Church for a limitted time in the wildernesse and made knowne by their Histories that the Dragon hath done but that which was granted vnto him that is to make warre against the Saints but being deliuered from their great tribulation and their robes whitned in the blood of the Lamb they haue been conducted to the liuing fountaines of water and God hath wiped all teares from their eies Lavs Deo Reuelation 21.7 He that ouercommeth shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my sonne FINIS THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE HISTORY OF THE ALBINGENSES CHAP. I. Who the Albingenses were what their beleefe who were comprehended vnder the name of Albingenses at what time and by whom they haue beene instructed in what esteeme their Pastors haue beene by whom and in what Councell condemned how they haue increased what Cities and great Lords haue taken their part For what doctrine the Papists haue hated them and persecuted them to the death THe Albingenses which we are to speake of in this History differ nothing at all from the Waldenses in their beleefe but they are onely so called of the Countrey of Albi where they dwelt and had their first beginning The Popes haue condemned them as Waldenses the Legates haue made warre against them as professing the beleefe of the Waldenses the Monkes Inquisitors haue formed their Proces and Indictments as against Waldenses The people haue persecuted them as being such and themselues haue thought themselues honored by that title vpon the assured knowledge that they had of the puritie of their doctrine Iaques de Riberia in Collectaneis vrbis Tolozae being the selfesame with the Waldenses In respect whereof many Historiographers call them Waldenses Wee therefore will distinguish them not by their beleefe but by the places of their abode and by the particular warres which they haue endured for the space of aboue filtie yeeres Vnder this name wee comprehend all the subiects of the Earles Remonds of Toulouze father and sonne and the subiects of the Earles of Foix and Comminge and all those that haue taken part with them that haue fought for their Religion and suffered the selfesame persecutions They receiued the beleefe of the Waldenses a little after the departure of Waldo from Lion The instruments that were imployed in this worke were Peter Bruis one Henry one Ioseph one Esperon and Arnold Hott of whom they were afterward called Pierrebruisiens or Petrobrusiens Henriciens Iosephists Esperonists and Arnoldists but aboue all the rest Henry and Arnold trauelled in the Countrey of Albi and that with so good successe that in a short time there were found but a few and in some places not any that would goe any more to Masse affirming that the sacrifice of the Masse was onely inuented to enrich the Priests and to make them to be more esteemed in the world as making the Body of Christ by their words and sacrificing him to God the Father for the sinnes of the liuing and of the dead which was an impietie destroying the sacrifice of the Sonne of God and annihilating the merit of his death and passion There were many that gaue eare to their reasons in the diocese of Rhodes Cahors Agen Toulouze and Narbonne Iaques de Riberia in his collections of the Citie of Toulouze because the Doctors that taught amongst the Waldenses were learned men conuersant in the reading of the holy Scriptures whereas on the other side the Priests who studied nothing more than the sacrifices of the Masse and how to receiue their oblations for the dead were altogether ignorant and therefore contemned of the people Pope Alexander the third Claud. de Rubis in his History of the Citie of Lion Lib. 3. pa. 269. being much mooued with anger because he saw many great Prouinces to shake off the yoke of the Romish Church and to dispence with their obedience condemned them for Heretikes in the Councell of Latran Neuerthelesse they were in such a manner multiplied 1200. that in the yeere 1200 they possessed the Cities of Toulouze Apamies Montauban Villemur Saint Antonin Hologaray in his History of Foix. Puech Laurence Castres Lambes Carcassonne Beziers Narbonne Beaucaire Auignon Tarascon the Count Venecin and in Dauphine Crest Arnaud and Monteil Amar. And which is more they had many great Lords who tooke part with them that is to say the Earle Remond of Toulouze Remond Earle of Foix the Vicount of Beziers Gaston Lord of Bearne the Earle of Carmain the Earle of Bigorre the Lady of Lauaur and diuers others of whom we shall make mention in their due place And besides all these the Kings of Aragon and of England haue many times defended their Earle Remond of Toulouze The doctrines that thy maintained against the Church of Rome were these 1 That the Romish Church is not the holy Church and Spouse of Christ but a Church watered with the Doctrine of Deuils That Babylon which Saint Iohn hath described in the Apocalypse the mother of fornications and abominations couered with the bloud of Saints 2 That the Masse was not instituted by Christ nor by his Apostles but that it is the inuention of men 3 That the prayers of the liuing profit not the dead 4 That Purgatorie maintained in the Church of Rome was a humane inuention to glut and satisfie the couetousnesse of the Priests 5 That Saints are not to be praied vnto 6 That Transubstantiation is the inuention of men and an erroneous doctrine And that the adoration of the Bread is a manifest Idolatry And that therefore they were to forsake the Church of Rome wherein the contrary was affirmed and taught because a man may not bee present at the Masses where Idolatry is practised nor attaine saluation by any other meanes than by Iesus Christ nor transferre vnto the creatures the